Funded by China, Sri Lanka’s Colombo Lotus Tower declared open for public

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The Lotus Tower in Colombo, which was built under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), opened to the public on Thursday.

The Colombo Lotus Tower, also known as Nelum Kuluna, was built for an estimated USD 113 million and opened to the public on Thursday, according to the Sri Lankan news agency.

The government had previously announced that the Colombo Lotus Tower would be opened in three stages over the coming months. The structure’s opening was proclaimed by Major General (Retired) Prasad Samarasinghe, the head of the Colombo Lotus Tower Management Company.

In another two months, the second phase of the Lotus Tower, which will also involve the launch of an electronic sports arena and a digital museum, is anticipated to open. In contrast, the third tier of the skyscraper will feature the debut of a 9D theatre and a rotating restaurant by March of next year, according to the news agency.

According to Sri Lankan media estimates, the tower apparently covers a total area of 30,600 square metres and costs more than USD 100 million to build, with China funding 80% of the project.
The 350-meter-tall, 17-story lotus tower is a building in Colombo city.

The media agency claimed that the tower will be accessible from 2 pm to 10 pm on weekdays and from 12 pm to 11 pm on weekends. It will also be offered for discounted student excursions.

Although the crisis in Sri Lanka became apparent after the pandemic, which reduced the island nation’s main source of foreign exchange earnings—international tourism—the country’s debts spiralled out of control, and its foreign exchange reserves shrank as a result of careless borrowing from China to fund infrastructure projects.

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